San Antonio Expert Fence handles commercial fencing for businesses, apartment communities and HOAs across San Antonio and the cities around it, from a security fence around an equipment yard to the fence around a community pool.
San Antonio Expert Fence plans commercial work around the city's rules, because on a business, apartment or HOA property the City of San Antonio handles a fence differently than it does at a house. A fence at a shop, an office, an apartment complex or a community amenity center goes through the city's commercial permit, with plans the city reviews before anything is built. A gate across a fire lane needs the Fire Marshal's approval. And a pool at an apartment complex, a condominium or an HOA falls under a Texas law with its own rules for the fence and the gate latch.
Very little of that has to land on your desk. We work out which rules apply to your property, put the plans and paperwork together, and build the fence to match. What's left for you are the decisions that belong to the owner or the board: how secure the property needs to be, how the fence should look from the street, where people and vehicles come and go, and what the budget allows.
If you manage the property for an owner, or you're bringing a fence to an HOA board, we can go over the site with whoever needs to see it and give you a price you can take back to them.
Commercial fencing covers a lot of different properties, and the right fence depends on what it's protecting and who needs to get through it. These are the four kinds of work we take on:
Chain link is the practical choice for an equipment yard, a lot behind a building or a long property line, where you want security and a clear view through the fence and the look matters less. It comes in taller heights, and an 8-foot fence is common around yards and industrial property where the city allows it.
At the front of a property, an apartment entrance or a community pool, the fence becomes part of how the place looks to customers, residents and anybody driving by. That's where steel, wrought iron and aluminum usually make more sense. Steel and wrought iron are heavy and strong, and aluminum doesn't rust, which makes it a common choice around pools.
Once a fence goes on a lot that holds something other than a house, a duplex or a triplex, the City of San Antonio treats it as a commercial fence. It goes through the city's Commercial Project Application, either as its own permit or alongside a larger construction project on the same property, and the city's staff review the plans before the permit is issued. We put the submission together, and this is what it covers:
On a property that isn't residential, the trees are protected during fence work. A tree can't be removed or damaged, and the ground around its roots can't be disturbed, without a separate permit and approval. So we lay out the fence line and the post holes around any trees on the property from the start.
A fence taller than 8 feet needs a Texas-licensed engineer to certify that its foundation and support structure are designed for wind loads under the building code. When your fence needs that height and the city allows it, the engineer's certification becomes part of the plans.
If the property sits in a historic district, a corridor overlay or a neighborhood conservation district, the fence has to be cleared with that district's rules before the commercial permit goes ahead. We find out which applies to your address before we design the fence.
The city doesn't send an inspector out to look at the fence itself, but its Code Enforcement Division can cite a fence that wasn't built to the city's requirements. We build yours to the plans the city reviewed, on or inside the property line.
Three things usually shape a commercial fence more than anything else on the permit: how tall it can be, whether it has to block the view of the houses next door, and what can go along the top of it.
The city sets the height of a commercial fence by what the property is used for:
A few cases go higher. A security fence for a public or institutional use can reach 8 feet, and a fence that sits entirely inside the property, behind the building setbacks and attached to the building, can go up to the building's own height when it's there for security or as part of how the business uses the space. One of the city's own examples is the outdoor garden area at a home improvement store.
If your business or apartment complex borders an existing single-family home, the city's development code usually requires a solid screening fence along that shared boundary, one you can't see through. When a fence that meets the rule already stands on the house's side, all the neighboring owners can sign an agreement to keep it instead. We'll look at what's on that line and tell you which way your property goes.
San Antonio's code doesn't allow barbed wire or razor wire on a fence, with an allowance for barbed wire at government facilities. A private business that wants barbed wire has to ask the city for an exception, and the request has to explain why the property can't meet the code. Cost isn't accepted as a reason. If your property needs it, we prepare that request with the reasons that apply to your site, and the city makes the decision.
Send the form with a few details about the property and the fence or gate you need. We'll call you back and set up a visit to the site.
We measure the fence line and note the drives, gates, fire lanes, trees, any pool, and any houses that share a boundary with the property.
You get a price for the fence, the gates and any removal, and nothing starts until the owner or the board approves it.
We put together everything the commercial permit asks for and send it in with the application. Any Fire Marshal or exception request is prepared and sent in separately.
Once the permit is issued, the posts go in first, then the fence and the gates.
We open and close every gate, make sure each one latches, and go over the finished fence with you or your board.
A gate at a business or community entrance usually has more rules attached to it than any other part of a commercial fence, and they decide where the gate sits and how it opens. We plan the entrance around them before the first post goes in.
A gate across a commercial driveway generally has to sit back at least 20 feet from the curb of a two-lane road and 40 feet from a four-lane road, measured to the card reader if there is one. That leaves room for cars to wait and turn around without stacking up into the street, and a busy, faster road can call for more than 40 feet. The city's traffic reviewers check the gate's position, and the sight lines at corners and at alley and street intersections, before the commercial fence permit is issued.
When a security gate crosses a fire lane, the San Antonio Fire Department's rules come into it:
A fence or gate also can't close off a fire lane without the Fire Marshal's written permission. We design the gate to these requirements and prepare the details the Fire Marshal's review asks for.
A gate run by an electric operator or other electrical controls, or one with lighting, needs its own electrical permit, with inspections, and that permit is pulled by a licensed electrical contractor.
A pool at an apartment complex, a condominium or an HOA amenity center isn't fenced to the same rules as a pool in somebody's back yard. Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 757 covers the pool at a rental complex with two or more units under the same ownership and management, condominiums included, and a pool that a property owners association owns, controls or maintains. A hot tub or spa more than 18 inches deep counts as a pool too.
The gate has to close and latch by itself, lock, and open outward, away from the pool. The latch generally goes at least 60 inches off the ground. It can sit as low as 42 inches when the gate can't be opened from either side without a key, a card or a combination, which can be a good fit if your residents already carry a key card for the rest of the property.
If your community's pool still has an older chain link fence around it, we'll plan the replacement in aluminum, steel or wrought iron, with a gate and latch built to these rules, and go over the layout with you or your board before anything is priced.
Commercial and HOA jobs are priced at the visit, because the length of the fence, the gates, the permit work and any fire lane or pool requirements all shape the number. These typical Texas installed prices by material give you a place to start, and the material and the length of the fence line usually have the most to do with where your price lands.
| Item | Typical price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Chain link fence, 6 ft | $15–$25 | per linear foot installed |
| Chain link fence, 8 ft | $16–$26 | per linear foot installed |
| Wrought iron fence | $21–$39 | per linear foot installed |
| Steel fence | $15–$58 | per linear foot installed |
| Aluminum fence | $19–$53 | per linear foot installed |
| Electric driveway gate | $2,400–$4,900 | each, installed |
| Chain link rolling gate, 20 x 8 ft | $1,200–$4,300 | each, installed, without an opener |
An entry gate system with a card reader or a fire department key switch is priced once we've seen the entrance, since the setback from the road, the Fire Marshal's approval and the electrical work all shape it. Try the cost calculator.
It's priced by the foot, with each gate added on, and the material usually makes the biggest difference. At typical Texas installed prices, 500 feet of 6-foot chain link comes to about $7,500 to $12,500 before gates. Entry gates with access control, fire lane gates and HOA work are priced once we've seen the site.
Yes. Every new fence in the City of San Antonio needs a permit, and once the lot holds anything other than a house, a duplex or a triplex, the fence takes the commercial route, with plans the city reviews before it lets construction start. You don't have to assemble any of that yourself. We prepare the whole submission, send it in, and start building only after the permit comes through.
Not directly. The section of the Texas Property Code people usually mean is about the fences homeowners put up on their own lots, and what an association can and can't restrict there. The association's own perimeter and amenity fences go by the city's permit, the association's own documents and, around a pool, Chapter 757. The city's rules apply either way, and the city doesn't enforce an HOA's covenants. We build to the city's rules and to your board's standards, and we can put together drawings and a materials list for the board's review.
We take commercial, apartment and HOA fence jobs across San Antonio and in the nearby cities below. When your property is in one of those cities, the fence is built to that city's own rules.
Whether it's a new fence line, an entry gate or a pool fence, tell us what the property needs and we'll find a time to come out and see it.
San Antonio Expert Fence is a fence company in San Antonio, Texas, for homes, businesses and HOAs. We repair fences and build new ones, and every job starts with a free visit and a written price.
Each city around San Antonio writes its own fence rules, and we plan every fence to the ones where your home is.
